Letters written in 1878 by a young woman new to the West, and found in an old trunk in the twenty-first century, reveal the daily life of a bygone era in the towns along the Eastern Sierra of California. Revealed are the early pioneers who settled this part of the state, the early ranchers, women both good and "bad," and miners who brought forth gold and silver from the mines of Cerro Gordo, Mammoth, Lundy, Aurora and Bodie. The letters describe the people, places and natural beauty of the area before it became today's recreational paradise, before its water was sent down the California aqueduct to Los Angeles, and before the long asphalt ribbon of Highway 395 cut through it.

In this utterly sweet and moving women's fiction novel, a celebrity comes to town and sweeps a young woman - who is used to being overlooked - off her feet. Sophie May is content with her life in her small English village, working in the local coffee shop and living with her mom. But when famous actor Billy comes to town to play Mr. Darcy in a new film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Sophie's quiet life is quickly turned on its head. Billy is adored by women around the world, but he only wants Sophie on his arm. But being with Billy comes at a price, and Sophie is thrown in the spotlight after years of shying away from attention. Can she handle the constant scrutiny that comes with being with Billy? Brimming with humor, wit, and genuine warmth, Billy and Me is a book about taking a chance on life and on love.

You are not alone. Discover how Lauren Kate transformed the feeling of that one mean girl getting under her skin into her first novel, how Lauren Oliver learned to celebrate ambiguity in her classmates and in herself, and how R.L. Stine turned being the “funny guy” into the best defense against the bullies in his class. Today’s top authors for teens come together to share their stories about bullying—as silent observers on the sidelines of high school, as victims, and as perpetrators—in a collection at turns moving and self-effacing, but always deeply personal.

Letters discovered in an old trunk introduce the modern traveler to the towns of the Owens Valley in California, back when pioneers, cowboys, and women referred to as soiled doves still walked their streets and gold mines flourished in the Eastern Sierra: Cerro Gordo, Mammoth, Lundy, Aurora and Bodie. Emilys letters describe her adventures, her friendships with women who traveled to the Far West over the Oregon Trail only twenty years earlier, and her years living in the wild mining town of Bodie. For two decades, she describes to her friend Carrie the people, places, and natural beauty of the Eastern Sierra and the Owens Valley before it became todays recreational paradise and before the California Aqueduct cut through the length of the Valley carrying Sierra snow melt to Los Angeles.

Time Period: 1923 For ten-year-old Carrie Moe, friendship with a Jewish immigrant is perfectly normal. So why are many of her other friends uptight about that? Sadly, in 1924, bigotry is a powerful force in society-so much so, that the white-robed members of the Ku Klux Klan plot violence against Jews. Carrie's Courage is the story of a young girl who stands up for a friend in the face of persecution. Using actual historical events as a backdrop, this young readers' novel shows that standing up for others, though not always popular, is always right. It's a perfect teaching tool, at an even better price!

A window into love, marriage, family, and war at the start of the twentieth century, this book presents original letters from a British Army sergeant to his young wife. Some, written in Bermuda in 1899, cover the couples courtship, engagement, marriage, and migration to England. Others are from South Africa, where James Hill served from 1900 to 1902 in the South African War. He seeks to reassure his wife, Carrie, of his safety and expresses his concerns for her. Carrie, newly arrived in Britain, stayed with her paternal grandparents near Chatham, where her first child was born in 1900. She treasured the letters for the rest of her life. Carries own voice is silent. Her feelings, preoccupations, tasks, and entertainments are mediated by Jim as he responds to the contents of her letters in his replies. The silence of her destroyed letters compounds her lifelong verbal silence about her early life in Bermuda. The letters and background commentary will explore family relationships and the impact of migration across continents at a time when gendered roles were assumed to be fixed but in reality had to be negotiated.

Jerrie Marcus Smith remembers her great aunt Carrie as a humorless woman who always wore black and who, Jerrie says, "scared me to death." Only as an adult did Jerrie grasp the impact of Carrie Marcus Neiman. Along with her brother, Herbert Marcus Sr., and her husband A.L. Neiman, Carrie co-founded in 1907 the famed Neiman Marcus department store in Dallas, Texas. Carrie played an integral role in the store''s success, despite having three strikes against her: she was a woman, she was Jewish, and (after her husband''s illicit relationship with a second-floor saleswoman) she was divorced. Yet with impeccable taste and exemplary manners, she traveled as a buyer to New York in the 1920s (without a man!) and, as Jerrie says, "was nobody''s pushover." Carrie was self-taught and never attended college. Her only pregnancy ended in miscarriage; she worked at Neiman Marcus until her death at age 66. Yet through memories shared by her father, the late Neiman Marcus legend Stanley Marcus, as well as through spellbinding interviews with long retired salespeople, Jerrie has felt inextricably tied to Carrie. Each recollection of Aunt Carrie, each remembrance, each detail melted away Jerrie''s childhood fear of the stern woman in black, leaving in its place a colorful portrait of a person to be admired, to be loved and--perhaps most of all--to be shared. "This captivating portrait of a strong and elegant woman will take you through fashion into the journey of a changing America and the birth of its most prestigious store, Neiman Marcus."--Diane von Furstenberg, fashion designer, philanthropist "A Girl Named Carrie is essential reading for everyone who admires the establishment and growth of the iconic Neiman Marcus, which set the standard for the American department store era and influenced stores around the world. Carrie Marcus Neiman was present at the creation and established the essential concepts that remain today. Yes, it''s a must-read!"--Leonard A. Lauder, Chairman Emeritus, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. "There''s a reason Life magazine sent some of its most celebrated photographers to capture the Neiman Marcus world: X, Y, and Z. A Girl Named Carrie shows us all of them."--Bill Shapiro, Former Editor-in-Chief of Life magazine "Carrie Marcus Neiman--A Female Founder and Chair of the Board long before this was even a dream of women. As the co-Founder of Neiman Marcus, she brought contemporary styles of Ready to Wear to women who had always had tailor-made clothes. She was a true disruptor in the industry and a constant inspiration to me as the next female CEO of the company 103 years later. "--Karen Katz, Former CEO Neiman Marcus Group "Thoughtful and evocative, A Girl Named Carrie tells the often remembered but never-before recorded history of Carrie Marcus Neiman. As an arbiter of taste and supporter of culture, "Aunt Carrie" not only brought clothing from New York and Paris to Dallas but placed Dallas alongside those two cities as an international fashion mecca. Her uncompromising standards for production and well-informed style established ready-to-wear as an accepted way to dress, her fastidious attention to detail created an expectation for customer service still appreciated by Neiman Marcus customers today, and her leadership as a businesswoman in the early twentieth century stands as a feminist example. Followers of fashion and appreciators of culture owe a debt of gratitude to this remarkable woman, whose story is beautifully told and illustrated here!"--Annette Becker, Director, Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas "Lovely writing! Bountiful visuals! A fascinating read!"--Jeffrey Banks, fashion designer and author "In A Girl Named Carrie Jerrie Marcus Smith has captured not only a powerful personality but also a pivotal moment in a city, a family and, above all, in American retailing. Carrie Neiman invented the specialty store, along with her husband, Al, and brother, Herbert Marcus. They called it Neiman Marcus, and it was born to be elegant but different from other emporiums, more daring, more imaginative, more attuned to fashion as a harbinger of the future as well as a talisman for its own time. All three, still in their 20s, were central to the enterprise, but without the taste, talent and foresight of Carrie Neiman, first and always chief buyer, the guys, good as they were at finance and promotion, would have had nothing to sell. Justifiably, the stores--eventually plural--have been known by her name, Neiman''s. This is a fascinating tale told with clarity, honesty, style and finesse by a great-niece who grew up in the glory days of Neiman Marcus. Also, the photographs are dazzling."--Lee Cullum, Journalist and Senior Fellow, John G. Tower Center for Public Policy and International Affairs, SMU "What a lovely and lively tribute to one of high fashions secret weapons, Ms. Carrie Neiman! A rare one-of-a-kind visionary, Ms. Neiman reshaped fashion retailing with ideas and pleasures that are still influential today. After years in the shadows it makes me very happy that she is being celebrated for the ingenuity and grace she brought to Neiman Marcus and all of us that visited it."--Todd Oldham, Designer and Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by RISD

Shampoo meets You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again in a rollicking and riveting memoir from the woman who for decades styled Hollywood's most celebrated players. I was living a hairdresser’s dream. I was making my mark in this all-male field. My appointment book was filled with more and more celebrities. And I was becoming competition for my heroes... Behind the scenes of every Hollywood photo shoot, TV appearance, and party in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, there was Carrie White. As the “First Lady of Hairdressing,” Carrie collaborated with Richard Avedon on shoots for Vogue, partied with Jim Morrison, gave Sharon Tate her California signature style, and got high with Jimi Hendrix. She has counted Jennifer Jones, Betsy Bloomingdale, Elizabeth Taylor, Goldie Hawn, and Camille Cosby among her favorite clients. But behind the glamorous facade, Carrie’s world was in perpetual disarray and always had been. After her father abandoned the family when she was still a child, she was sexually abused by her domineering stepfather, and her alcoholic mother was unstable and unreliable. Carrie was sipping cocktails before her tenth birthday, and had had five children and three husbands before her twenty-eighth. She fueled the frenetic pace of her professional life with a steady diet of champagne and vodka, diet pills, cocaine, and heroin, until she eventually lost her home, her car, her career—and nearly her children. But she battled her way back, getting sober, rebuilding her relationships and her reputation as a hairdresser, and the name Carrie White was back on the door of one of Beverly Hills’s most respected salons. An unflinching portrayal of addiction and recovery, Upper Cut proves that even in Hollywood, sometimes you have to fight for a happy ending.